4VF News – Daily News Channel – Page 52

Piers Morgan, Larry King trade verbal blows

Clearly, former CNN prime time hosts Larry King and Piers Morgan are not big fans of each other.

After King derided Morgan’s interview skills and called him pompous, Morgan responded on Twitter that King was a “graceless, petty little man”.

Morgan’s CNN show was cancelled this year. He had replaced King in that time slot in 2011.

King, in an interview with WGRF in Buffalo, says he had trouble watching his successor because the interviews were all about Morgan.

Morgan, in turn, criticised King’s ratings, posted a clip where King famously misidentified Ringo Starr as “George,” and wrote, “Get over it, you daft old goat.”

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– AP

Barking mad? Music just for dogs

It’s a case of dog whistle politics in the music industry.

Sean Plunket hopes to stir debate

Which political party should get your vote Do you understand the various parties’ stance on things like social welfare, education and health care

If you don’t know the answer to any or even all of the above, then you might want to tune into Prime’s new Friday night show Prime Time With Sean Plunket.

A panel show fronted by veteran journalist Sean Plunket, the nine-week series will feature a mix of experts, analysts and MPs discussing a range of topics.

Plunket, who viewers may remember from TV shows like Fair Go and The Nation, says the idea is not to have a forum for politicians to, “Say everything they want but to say.” Nor is the show set up to generate news headlines. And don’t expect to see, “Media analysts talking to each other or politicians just slagging each other off.”

“We primarily want to inform people so that if they vote they make a more informed or a smarter decision for what’s good for their lives and what might change in their lives.”

In terms of the topics up for discussion, Plunket says as well as issues like immigration and housing, the show will also touch on the role of social media in elections.

And while viewers should expect some lively discussions, Plunket believes the show isn’t necessarily designed to shock or thrill.

“This is not about getting someone to storm out of the studio and rip their microphone off,” he says. “I hope we have intelligent, detailed and understandable debates and discussions for the people who are watching. It is not about sensation. It is about information.”

Clearly interested in politics, you have to wonder if Plunket would consider throwing his hat into the political ring.

But he dismisses the idea. “To be honest I don’t think I could take a one-eyed philosophical view and say everything that one party does is good and everything another party does is bad,” he says.

Prime Time With Sean Plunket
Prime, Friday, 9.35pm

-TV Guide

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Pike River song enters chart

A tribute song for the 29 miners who lost their lives in Pike River disaster is the highest new entry on the Kiwi artists singles chart this week.

Written and sung by Dave Dobbyn, along with the Orpheus Choir of Wellington, This Love was recorded at a concert attended by members of the miners’ families. It enters the local chart at number 16.

Before writing the song Dobbyn spent time in Greymouth with the families of the miners, and said he felt their overwhelming grief. “I was very moved by their strength of community upon such a heavy loss of life. It spoke of a shared deeper love that survives in hope.”

Holding onto first place on the NZ Top 40 chart is Joel and Benji Madden, formerly of Good Charlotte, with their song We Are Done. The identical twins now work under the title The Madden Brothers.

Meanwhile, Stan Walker’s rousing anthem Aotearoa retains the number 1 spot on the NZ singles chart for a second week. The song, which Walker sings entirely in te reo, was launched last week to mark Maori Language Week.

Hamilton-based rock and metal band Devilskin are also clinging to the top of both the general and Kiwi album charts for a third week with We Rise.

Highest new entry to the album chart is former Midnight Youth vocalist Jeremy Redmore, with debut album Clouds Are Alive making it in at number 6. It also reached number 2 on the Kiwi artist album list.

Entering the singles chart at number 2 is 19-year-old actor Troye Sivan, with Happy Little Pill. It is the debut single for the Australian, who has a massive following on YouTube. He also played a young Wolverine in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Golden girl Kimbra gets real

To get the gold for her new album, Kimbra shunned the lights and distractions for a bucolic bolt hole in LA that echoes her native Waikato.

Bogan doco gets green light

He was given $100,000 of taxpayer money to study bogans, and now more than $300,000 more has been awarded to a documentary presenting the work of “Boganology Doctor” David Snell.

Robert Pattinson talks about Kristen Stewart’s affair

Robert Pattinson has spoken out about the cheating scandal that ended his relationship with Kristen Stewart.

“Shit happens, you know” he told

More popular than GoT and Miley

Never let it be said that really bad movies don’t make good TV.

Sharknado 2: The Second One,

Meet the next bestselling authors: computers

Computers are a step closer to becoming the next Stephen King, JK Rowling or George RR Martin thanks to a new artificial intelligence software that writes its own fables.

Researchers at the University of NSW have developed a computer system that generates simple stories constructed on a psychological model.

Perhaps it was inevitable that our use of technology would eventually into one of the most fundamental areas of human behaviours: story telling.

All humans need to do is select from one of 22 available storylines wired around an emotional core, such as retribution.

The computer then plots out the emotions the characters need to experience and constructs events to match each plot point.

The new system is the brainchild of passionate reader and computer science PhD student Margaret Sarlej.

“Computer generated storytelling is in its very early stages, and we’re a long way from a computer becoming the next Tim Winton, but this is a step forward,” Sarlej said.

Sarlej created the fundamental storytelling engine of the system by encoding the 22 available fable types with the series and structure of emotions characters need to experience to convey that moral message.

Celebrities’ meddling in the Middle East backfires

Celebrities who are better known for their partying rather than politics are angering fans when they go ”off brand” and post strong views on social media.

The situation is Gaza is a complex one which even the savviest of diplomats struggle to navigate. However, that didn’t stop One Direction star Zayn Malik from weighing in on the crisis this week. The British-born Muslim of Pakistani descent received death threats after tweeting ”#FreePalestine” to his 13 million followers.

#FreePalestine.

— zaynmalik1D (@zaynmalik) July 28, 2014

A week earlier Rihanna wrote the same message to her 36 million fans. She then deleted it and issued an apology, claiming she had accidentally posted the hashtag. She then wrote: ”Let’s pray for peace and a swift end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict! Is there any hope”

In between a plethora of selfies and photos from exotic locations, Selena Gomez posted a number of images on Instagram informing her 11 million followers: ”I am not picking any sides. I am praying for peace and humanity for all!” Her two photos attracted more than 1.3 million comments.

Pop stars aren’t the only ones to experience a backlash though.

While world’s fastest man Usain Bolt refused to be drawn on the topic of Gaza during a press conference in Glasgow recently, saying ”I don’t have the full details”, other athletes have been a little more outspoken.

NBA star Dwight Howard posted the same verse as Malik and Rihanna before deleting it and writing: ”Previous tweet was a mistake. I have never commented on international politics and never will.”

On Tuesday English cricketer Moeen Ali was banned from wearing ”Save Gaza” and ”Free Palestine” wristbands in the remainder of the Test series against India. Former Australian cricketer David Boon, the International Cricket Council’s match referee, overturned a decision which would have allowed Ali to wear the bands.

”Moeen Ali was told by the match referee that while he is free to express his views on such causes away from the cricket field, he is not permitted to wear the wristbands on the field of play and warned not to wear the bands again during an international match,” a statement from the ICC read.

A group of actors including Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz have written an open letter denouncing Israel’s actions as ”genocide”. Bardem, in his native Spain, is notorious for his political activism, whereas Cruz is not.

Earlier this year, Scarlett Johansson quit her role with Oxfam after the global charity criticised SodaStream, the soft drink company she was the face of, for producing its wares in an Israeli factory near the West Bank. Johansson was an Oxfam ambassador for eight years but said she didn’t regret her decision.

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”I was aware of that particular factory before I signed. And it still doesn’t seem like a problem – at least not until someone comes up with a solution to the closing of that factory and leaving all those people destitute,” she told